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Beliefs: Irrational or RationalIn Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, there is a concept of rational or irrational beliefs. What is the difference? Don't all beliefs have both rational and irrational elements? Sometimes I believe all beliefs are fundamentally irrational because there is always an underlying premise that is not provable logically. So aren't all beliefs irrational at some level?
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| asked on Wednesday, Jul 13, 2016 10:32:15 AM by Jim | |
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Part one is about how science works even when the public thinks it doesn't. Part two will certainly ruffle some feathers by offering a reason- and science-based perspective on issues where political correctness has gone awry. Part three provides some data-driven advice for your health and well-being. Part four looks at human behavior and how we can better navigate our social worlds. In part five we put on our skeptical goggles and critically examine a few commonly-held beliefs. In the final section, we look at a few ways how we all can make the world a better place.
* This is for the author's bookstore only. Applies to autographed hardcover, audiobook, and ebook.
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“Don't all beliefs have both rational and irrational elements? Sometimes I believe all beliefs are fundamentally irrational because there is always an underlying premise that is not provable logically.”
At the risk of waxing Clintonian (i.e., “It depends on what the meaning of ‘Is’ is.) it would seem that the full scope of a response would depend on the applicable definition (or at least the context) of ‘Belief’. One definition of ‘Belief’ - "the feeling of being certain that something exists or is true." Thus, If you stipulate ‘Belief’ to encompass factual assertions with which you must agree because they are axiomatically truthful, than I fail to see that “all beliefs must be irrational at some level.” For example, if one approaches Descartes’ classic Cogito ergo sum (I think, therefore I exist") as an assertion of belief, however self-evident, than one surely avoids the caveat “all beliefs must be irrational at some level. ' (Note: this is not to say that Descartes’ assertion does not lack detractors and even an attempted refutation or two; point is, it is not irrational.) Mathematical truisms MAY constitute another branch of non-irrational belief, though this is more complicated. |
| answered on Wednesday, Jul 13, 2016 01:35:24 PM by modelerr |
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